Parallel (A Virtual Gamer's Story) [Vol.1 - Vol.4 Complete]

Chapter 123: Art of the Forge

23rd Muriel, 1093.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Otto Knutsen, filled with pride, paraded through the dwarven workshop, a behemothean cavern more than five thousand square meters in size with a ceiling over three hundred meters high. Impressively, not a single square inch of this great cavern was put to waste. Giant cauldrons and blast furnaces littered the room, massive gears and rails used to transport ore from one place to another.

Natural lava over 2000 degrees flowed through special pipes into the cauldrons and furnaces, their fierce heat rendering the need for flames mute. A massive wooden hull that looked like a ship hung from cables attached to overhead beams, with metal scaffolding placed next to it.

Although this seemed like a big project, the dwarfs had temporarily abandoned the hull. The hardworking artisans instead focused all of their attention on the metal plates or ingots on their anvils, each hammering with an intensity and focus that would scare off any potential distractions.

Admirable though it was, Otto Knutsen was not too proud or impressed, as this focused hard work was something expected of dwarfs. It came as easy to them as breathing and eating. No, the source of his pride was...

Ah, there he was...

The Chief of The Hands' grin widened as he spotted a daeben hammering on a thin, heated blade, steam visibly rising as sweat evaporated from his muscles. The daeben, oblivious to the attention on himself, pounded on the black, heated edge with an almost hypnotic rhythm, bloodshot eyes exuding immense pressure as he forced a piece of his soul onto the blade with every strike of the hammer.

Otto Knutsen could not help but recall their meeting four days past with a gaze filled with admiration and disbelief at the daeben's skill and perseverance. Dear Aygor, how he had underestimated the lad before him...

4 Days Ago,

"Wh-wh-wha!?" Hundreds of dwarfs stared in shock at the mountains of monster pelts piled in the middle of the forge. Even more eye-catching was a stretch of dark hide, which was at least fifty square meters despite being folded on itself.

A conspicuous daeben stood at the fore of these pelts, red eyes displaying hints of amused relief. "These have been piling for quite some time now. My inventory was nearing its limits," Kashi joked as he admired the testament to all the beasts he'd slaughtered since leaving Riven.

Although that was the case, he obtained 80% of these pelts during his experiments in Merriheim. As to how he managed to obtain so many high-level furs in such sizes despite their low drop rate?

Better left unsaid.

The large, dark scaly skin naturally came from Krakul. It seemed the inventory system combined all the pieces he picked up in the tower into one.

Standing next to the daeben, Otto Knutsen gaped at the pelts. "This... This is enough to outfit an entire army! How did you get this many pelts?"

Kashi coughed, eyes shifting to the side. "Let's not talk about that," he prompted. "If we tan these pelts, how much leather armor do you think we could make?"